Relocating from Michigan to Knoxville (Johnson City, Kingsport: apartment complexes, foreclosures, rentals) - Tennessee (TN) - City-Data Forum

brodas3 · 07-09-2007, 10:41 PM

Hi! My wife and I are considering relocating our family to the Knoxville/Maryville area. We currently live in a small SW suburb of Detroit called Ecorse. Things have become pretty bad here. The economy is shot, crime is way up, and things only look to get worse. Example; 4th of July - My wife and I are walking back to the car from the park where the fireworks were displayed, and a green SUV pulled up with four men in it and began firing into the crowd of people. 1 teenage boy was shot in the chest and killed, another man was shot in the bottom, and an 11 year old was grazed in the head and shoulder! This was supposed to be a nice night out with the family. Not winding up with my wife, my 5 year old daughter, and 15 month old daughter in a stroller, and I running for the car in the hopes that we wouldn't get shot! That was it, we are outta here. Michigan is at a record high for unemployment, crime, and home foreclosures. In May alone, Michigan lost over 55,000 jobs, and residents lost 16,000 homes! The auto makers are down and laying off 10's of thousands at a time. This had been a bubble waiting to pop. Thanks a lot UAW! I used to make a terrific living framing homes. Now, because homes are not selling, and jobs are so far and few between, the same job that payed me over $20 an hour two years ago, you can't make more than $10 - $12 now. That's if your lucky enough to even find that.

In 2004 my wife, daughter, and I drove through Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Maryville, Knoxville, and Smokies, and loved the area. On a trip that took us to Disney World, and the Florida Keys, our favorite part of the whole was in Tennessee. So, when the talk of relocation came up this was, by far, our first choice. I have worked building houses (building & remodeling), as a machinist, and have even worked in restaurants in management. Right now I am looking into CDL testing in Tennessee and possibly driving a truck. My wife is a hair stylist, and is currently going to college studying radiology. We are looking for something within a commute to South College. I am 35, my wife is 29. We have three children, Sam, Cody, & Brooklyn (5, 3, & 15 months). We need somewhere that is child freindly and with decent schools. We would rent for the first year or so, and have to find a place to rent. Rentals seem very scarce. Does anyone know the best place to look? I have tried local newspapers online but not much there. Jobs are extremely important however and we have to know that the economy and future is strong & secure. I know from whats happening here that that is very hard to predict. We are looking to make the move in about three or four months. I would go sooner and get things ready for my wife and kids if a job oppurtunity presents itself. We are very down to earth people that started our lives in the country (I'm from a farm in southern Ohio, and my wife is from the country in northern Michigan.). We believe that to have been the best upbringing and we want that so much for our children. We don't want to be in the city neccesarily, but we do want a small close knit community. We have been looking a lot at Maryville, but we're not quite sure. Does anyone know of good out of the way areas in southern Knoxville?

We don't have a lot of money, but we should have enough to get us moved and get started. Right now the way things are we don't have a choice but to get out of Michigan. Everyone here is always saying about how it's only going to get worse. My family can't wait for that.

If anyone can help provide us with any information at all about relocating there we would greatly appreciate it.

TedTLPN · 07-10-2007, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brodas3

If anyone can help provide us with any information at all about relocating there we would greatly appreciate it.

No Problem. Maryville (to me) is the best area for kids as the city's school district is incredibly good. Blount county in general is nice. One little gotcha about your CDL, is that you do have to have color vision. This is the reason I'm not persuing that carreer.

BonnieD · 07-11-2007, 11:47 AM

Wow, what a heart wrenching post. The world can sure be a scary place sometimes. My family is also looking to relocate, mostly for monetary reasons, and I got some great advice from my post. Its the one from Baltimore. If this site is any indication of how friendly and helpful the people from TN are, then I cant wait to get there. Good luck!

brodas3 · 07-11-2007, 01:20 PM

Thanks TedTace, we are trying to look in the Maryville area. It just seems that the rental properties are very far and few between.

I spent a bit of last night reading a lot of the threads from Baltimore. That was really informing. You probably saw that I couldn't resist leaving a post myself. Thanks for the input!

darstar · 07-11-2007, 01:45 PM

The Knoxville area is a good choice, when moving south. In general , east Tenn. is a good bet. The closer you get to the Mountains , the more scenic, cooler, and in general , a nicer place to be. I would look in the tri-cities area also.. Thats Johnson City area. Its about an hour north of Knoxville , and very progressive. very close to the mountains. A smaller town feel , but has a large trade area , with Bristol, and Kingsport part of the ' tri-Cities". lots to see and do. Check out that area along with the big city, Knoxville. I could tell you a lot more.........just ask.

c00kies · 07-12-2007, 02:46 AM

I'm not in Knoxville, but from what I remember..........

I loved Knoxville, I went there for college (UT). Lived there for 4 years. It's safe, beautiful, people are super friendly, Shoney's breakfast bar

, and the most important thing: THE VOLS!!!

BUT eventhough Knoxville is a very safe city, there are some areas that you might want to avoid, such as Magnolia, Broadway, uhmm...forgot the others. Are you planning to rent or buy? If you are renting, there are many nice apartment complexes in West Knoxville (Cedar Bluff, Westland, Downtown West, Middlebroke (sp?)). Chapman and Clinton Highway are cheaper. Living in East TN is good if you are looking for a more relaxed life and cost of housing is very affordable. Check out Knoxville Apartment Guide - Find Apartments in Knoxville, TN (http://knoxvilleapartmentguide.com/map.htm - broken link) for rentals.

If you want somewhere close to South College, you might want to look around West Knoxville. I'm not sure how traffic in Knoxville is nowadays, but 4-5 years ago when I was there, I-40 was starting to encounter some bad traffic because of the city's development. Also, Kingston Pike's traffic was horrendous during rush hours. If you want to live in Maryville, I think the driving to South College might be a little bit too much, it might take you about 30 minutes or so. Renting in West Knoxville is only $50-$100 more than Blount County, but you won't have to deal with the long drive, helps with the gasoline and car mileage.

hiknapster · 07-12-2007, 08:22 AM

Everyday, Knoxville traffic gets worse. And to topp it off, they plan on shutting down I-40, between I-640 for 18 months. I can't even imagine what will happen.

jimj · 07-13-2007, 06:09 AM

Brodas3,
We too are looking to move to TN (if this house ever sells) and my wife has a CDL. Did some checking and you can easily transfer a CDL to TN so I would suggest getting it where you are then just do a transfer. If you don't have it yet there are many junior colleges now that offer the course for a minimal fee, here it is about $800 for all the training you should need to pass the tests.
Good luck to you, hope y'all get out of there with your lives intact!

amyevansmom · 07-13-2007, 10:36 AM

I know first-hand what you are going through. We moved from Saginaw a year ago and it's the best thing we've ever done! We first moved to Seymour and have now purchased a home in Sevierville. All I can say is, have an open-mind as it is much different here than Michigan, but it is very good. If you want to send me a private message w/ questions, please feel free and I will be glad to help however I can.

ang1028 · 07-15-2007, 08:31 AM

brodas3,jimj and amyevansmom,
I have to jump in, too. I live in Traverse city. Over the last 3 years, my husband has lost his job in the automotive industry twice and is now laid-off from his third job. We have two kids (13 and 11) and have said that we would wait to leave TC until they were done with school. But, now that my husband is out of work and I work a low-paying social work job, we just can't wait any longer. I am a housing advocate and I see first-hand, everyday, how desperate the situation is here. The list of foreclosures take up pages in the local newspapers. The area is beautiful and I love it here (hate the winters and short summers), but if you are not a doctor, lawyer or independently wealthy - forget it!!!!! As they say, "A view of they bay, is 1/2 the pay."
We love the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Maryville, Knoxville, and Smokies area, too. We would love to move to this area. But can we find adequate housing, suitable jobs, keep that small town feel that our family loves and still survive?? Then, there is that pesky little problem of getting our house to sell....
We have also heard that North Carolina has a good economy. I have read somewherer that an area has to call to you and the South does that for me. Of course, part of it is the warmer weather, but I also love the history of the South and everybody was so friendly when we visited Tennessee and also, Kentucky.
I hope someone can provide some advice. Thank you.